June 6th, 2009
Where are the French code warriors when it's "Le Weekend?"
A startup based in Silicon Valley and Lyon, France contacted me on Friday about a new service it had just launched and asked me to check it out.
I looked at the service and saw there was a problem with some of the Javascript and told the company. They said they would get right back to me with a fix.
They did get right back to me with a message saying their French development team had already gone home and they couldn’t fix it until Monday!
I’m a big supporter of balancing life and work but this seemed ridiculous. The whole team should have been on standby for any problems — weekends included.
The startup had just launched its service. You generally only get one bite at the cherry. People are unlikely to come back on Monday — it’s a serious issue.
I know this kind of thing wouldn’t and couldn’t happen in Silicon Valley.
Tom Foremski reports on the business and culture of Silicon Valley at the intersection of technology and media. He also writes at Silicon Valley Watcher. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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